Fluttershy sat there, she'd watched the scene unravel like a movie. Feeling distant to it. Twilight and Trixie just up and vanished leaving the others behind to be bewildered by their sudden disappearance. Though Fluttershy wasn't stupid. Judging by the tone that Celestia had used, and from Trixie's reaction to the name Jackpots. She figured that Trixie's father must have been this pony, some ill begotten rendezvous for Celestia, and a sour if not painful memory for Trixie. Though what was it that caused Trixie to be hurt so badly by that name that she'd demand a quick exit?

Looking at Celestia now, she could see the fear and concern in her eyes. Perhaps afraid that if Trixie hated one parent, she might hate the other as well. This event had not at all helped with Celestia's current challenge.

Fluttershy reached out and squeezed Celestia's hoof. "Hey, it'll be okay."

Celestia offered a weak smile. "I'm sure it will be."

Rainbow Dash was looking between the two of them seemingly a little confused by the whole ordeal herself. She did as she usually did when things were a challenge for her and blew out a sigh. "Weirdo, fine I won't talk about some random magician that just so happens to look exactly like Trixie."

Fluttershy stared at her. "Have you not figured it out?"

Rainbow Dash blinked. "What?"

Fluttershy shook her head. About to dismiss it, but she saw something in the corner of Rainbow’s eye. They’d been down this road before and it was time Fluttershy started being honest with her friend. "Jackpots is probably Trixie's dad, and Trixie is an orphan."

Rainbow Dash blinked. "Oh cool, so she can go meet her dad now right?"

Fluttershy repeated. "She is an orphan."

"Yes, because her dad... oh..." Rainbow's mood fell and she looked a little hurt herself. "Man... that has to hurt."

"I'm sure it does. Yet I know for a fact that she would love to meet her mother, I'm expecting she hasn't had a good experience with Jackpots."

Celestia looked a little relieved to hear that. "You know," She said almost in a whisper. "I've heard he has a few children, and anytime one of them seeks him out he's rather... distant with them. I can imagine this being painful for Trixie."

Fluttershy gave her as gentle a look she could. "Yes, but if she were to meet her mother, then her mother wouldn't push her away now would she?"

"No, no she would not." Celestia spoke with some authority on the subject. "Though her mother might be a coward, she would never push her own loving daughter away. She may have even attempted for years to close the distance between herself and her daughter unknowingly."

Rainbow Dash blinked. "I mean... maybe, but like, how are we supposed to know if we don't even know who her mom is? I bet its some earth pony."

This time Fluttershy did not let on that she thought her ignorance was adorable. "You're right. We don't know. But if we did, we'd help bring the two of them together right?"

Rainbow Dash nodded. "Heck yeah we would. Filly deserves a good mom at least."

Celestia spoke quietly. "She does."

It felt nice to just talk to Rainbow Dash like this again. As a friend trying to solve problems that didn’t involve their personal relationship. Maybe if this kept up they could even… no, Fluttershy banished that thought for now. She wasn’t ready to even consider trying to ask if Rainbow and Pinkie would ever be that close again. She had her Celestia, and honestly, that was all she wanted at this point.

As the mood began to sink Fluttershy hoped this was not going to be the trend of the day. After all, there were other things to do today than be sad. Maybe she could find a way to cheer everypony up. Somehow... oh if only she was some kind of princess of friendship or something, then maybe this would be a lot easier. Instead the most she could rely on was a purple unicorn with a penchant for being crazy and selfish at times. Some 'element of magic' she was.

Fluttershy sipped at a smoothie in silence as she worked the problem through her brain. Surely there had to be some kind of way to fix things. Some way somehow.

Trixie sat there staring at the fireplace, and enjoying the warmth ebbing off of the flames. She blew a raspberry at the fire and let out a sigh. She was still stressed out and Twilight had to leave on some royal errand or some such.

This meant she was all alone and trying to keep herself occupied. Well there was no time like the present to have fun. Her horn lit up with an orchard light and she put a little effort into the spell.

A bubble, glossy wet and translucent grew from the tip of her horn. It expanded to the size of an apple before she let it go and watched it drift upward into the air and floated around. It wasn't a great spell, it was fairly useless in fact, but it was fun.

She made another bubble, and then another. Soon she had created dozens of bubbles all drifting through the air, bouncing into each other and popping, or splitting off and creating more smaller bubbles.

She summoned another bubble, larger than the others. Now standing in a room full of bubbles she made one that huge. Larger than her own head, then larger than her body. It continued to swell up as she created it. It was the size of a wagon before she was done and let it go.

"Haha!" She stated. "I am Trixie, the Bubble Magician, fear me and my kingdom of bubbles, the bubble minions will come to rule over your peasant land."

She made more bubbles, these ones in the shapes of ponies half her size and had at least ten of them in a row before she then created spears for them. Setting the bubbly spears beside them.

She bumped into the large one and feared it popping. Then she realized that it was made of sturdy stuff. She pushed it with a hoof and an amazing idea came to mind. She jumped into it, for a moment it pushed back but then she sunk into the bubble and was allowed into its protective walls. Now inside the giant wagon sized bubble she faced the door and laughed louder. "I am the Bubble Queen!"

The door opened and Twilight Sparkle walked in. "Trixie, sorry to bother you but have you seen my... my... um."

Her eyes were wide as she saw hundreds of bubbles floating in the air. The ten loyal bubble soldiers and their spears faced her, spears lowered. Trixie put a hoof to her chin. "Oh my, Twilight Sparkle, we meet again. This time you shall not win. For I, the Bubble Queen have summoned forth my army of bubbles to take over your land."

Twilight blinked. "W-what?"

"Go my minions!" Trixie cried as her horn lit up and the bubble soldiers drifted and bounced toward Twilight.

Twilight blinked and watched. One of them raised its spear and poked Twilight with it. She looked down at the bubble. "Um..."

Trixie growled. "You have raised your defense stats. There is no way their spears can harm you now I see. Then take this!"

The spear poked Twilight in the snoot. She rubbed at her nose and backed away. "Trixie!"

"Aha! The Bubble Queen has found your weakness, Twilight Sparkle!" She looked at her soldiers of sudsy wrath. "Boop the snoot!"

Twilight yelled as the spears poked and jabbed at her face. She ducked and weaved valiantly. Yet a few blows got through, making her snort and giggle with each poke. Eventually she went on the offensive. Parrying with her horn, and then popping spears and solders alike.

Once the ten soldiers were dealt with Twilight faced Trixie in her fortress of bubbletude. "Now we end this, Bubble Queen... uh... oh, it’s time to burst your bubble."

Trixie clapped her hooves together excitedly. "Catchphrases and one liners! Yay!"

Twilight giggled. Then reared up and once she landed on all fours she charged. Her horn hit the bubble, but it didn't pop. She pushed in, inch by inch she sunk into the bubble. Then she was sucked in entirely and landed at Trixie's hooves. "W-what?"

Trixie grinned. "Welcome to bubble, my name is bubble, may I take your bubble?"

"Trixie, how come it didn't pop?" Twilight stood up and walked around. "This is... is... This is amazing!"

"Isn't everything Trixie does amazing?"

"No, Trixie, really this is a sustainable bubble. You could in theory use this to go underwater. Explore places with toxic air. Or just to look cool. Or, or, the possibilities are endless!"

Trixie blinked. "Twilight, it's just a big bubble."

Twilight stared at her. "No its not. It's a powerful spell, and it’s amazing, and it’s your bubble."

Twilight walked to her and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "You are amazing, great, and powerful."

Trixie's entire face was burning up, she felt like a lit match and she swallowed. "Thank you..."

Trixie looked around. "So... how do we get out of here?"

Twilight blinked. "You... you don't know?"

"No, I didn't even expect it to be this strong."

Twilight shrugged. "Well let's try walking out."

Twilight walked to the edge of the bubble, pushed against it, and then found it was a rather durable surface from the inside. She pushed again, nothing. Twilight frowned. "Hmm... how do you get out of here?"

Trixie smiled. "I have an idea."

Twilight looked at her. "Oh?"

Trixie's horn lit up and a beam of lightning shot out of the tip of her horn. It slapped into the side of the bubble, bounced off and hit Twilight squarely on the horn. Twilight yelped and shook her head.

Her horn was singed and her mane was frayed, sticking out on ends. Trixie giggled. "Oops."

"And it's magic resistant. Great, so it's even more powerful than I thought..."

"Well at least we're not alone. We have each other." Trixie purred.

"You trapped me in a bubble, poked me in the nose, and then shot me with lighting... eh, I guess that means we have to get married now.”

Trixie giggled. "Exactly."

"But for real, how do we escape?"

Trixie shrugged. "I have no idea. It's a bubble, Twilight, it'll pop eventually."

It was then that Spike walked up the stairs. "Hey, you two are making a ruckus up here. What's going-"

He saw the giant bubble, and the hundreds of smaller ones surrounding it. Trixie smiled. "I am the Bubble Queen, face my wraith dragon boy!"

The bubbles moved like a swarm and blocked off his escape. Spike stepped forward. "Oh yeah, what can the Bubble Queen do?"

She grinned. "I have captured your mom, the Twilight Sparkle is mine now. Can you rescue her, dragon boy?"

He walked up to the big bubble. "Yeah... I think so." He breathed fire onto the bubble and it popped.

It broke into thousands of smaller bubbles that filled the room. So many bubbles were unleashed that Trixie was unable to see through them. Only feeling the tingle and the tickle as they popped against her fur.

She shook her head. "Spike!"

Spike laughed. "I guess I burst your bubble didn't I?"

She growled. Not only did he actually burst the bubble, he also stole Twilight's one liner. How dare him. She let out a sigh. Then a giggle. "That was fun."

Twilight grumbled. "My room... is filled... with bubbles."

Trixie nodded. "You're welcome."